Slam Dunk II: Second Power
by Pasonia Seltia Keros
Summary: The four schools of Kanagawa featured for the second year! What potential will the freshmen show? Will Sakuragi be the ONE? Will Haruko finally start taking notice?
1. Prologue

Welcome to my first fic for the site, aptly named...

**Slam Dunk II: Second Power**

Why did I call it "**Second Power**", you ask. Well, basically, I am going to introduce a few more apparently powerful characters into the original storyline (after the Summer Championships and Shohoku's loss in the third round of the IH, which I prefer to call, Summer Championships), and I am going to come up with the conclusions on a few loose end of the story, such as who ACTUALLY won the Summer Championships. (You'll be surprise – or un-surprised, depending on your attentiveness to the 10+-year-old series)

For this story, the focus would still be on Sakuragi Hanamichi (surnames first, if you wonder, because I prefer to use the Chinese-Japanese surnames-priority naming method) but I will also provide a few focus-chapters on our new characters (co-main with Rukawa and Sakuragi) so that you'll not get lost on their origins and all.

This chapter is completely skippable, because this is just an in-depth explanation of the new characters 

**New characters**:

_Yukigawa Mai_ – A sophomore transfer student from Tokyo, a quiet girl with a hidden but nonetheless impressive academic record. Aspires to do something different from her businessman-father's hopes for her – go into the world of basketball instead of sitting in front of the desk all day typing documents. To do so in the non-existent girls' basketball team, of course she must create one... but... how? Will Shohoku's hard-headed principal and dean be impressed? Or will Mai end up becoming the second Ayako?

_Yukigawa Arashi_ – The younger brother of Mai, Arashi also hopes to deviate away from his father's aspirations from him and, like-minded with his sister, is a basketball fan and a proficient player. Somewhere in him tells him that he can match a lot of the national players, but lying around the street basketball corners of the hustle-bustle in Tokyo doesn't make him a star, he wants to jump onto the national scene and make a splash. Is this the timely help that Sakuragi and Rukawa – or, in fact, Shohoku - needs? Or will Arashi replace Sakuragi by accident instead?

_Goston Yamir_ – A half-Jap, half-Bulgarian hailing from Nagoya, his 2.1 meter height makes him extremely exposed to human eyes. Being shy doesn't particularly help the problem much. A senior who sincerely hopes that, with his last shot at better college basketball, he would be asked to join UCLA, his dream college for basketball (although for reasons unknown). Is this guy a mere replacement of "Gori"Akagi? Or will the team have a fiercer backbone then ever?

_Aoiyama Uchiro_ – A shady sophomore character hailing from a nearby high school, he doesn't seem like your typical boy-next-door with constantly changing, outlandish hairstyles that the dean will be horrified at, but deep within his flashy exterior is a deep, dark past he wishes to forget. Will he be the second pre-"conversion" Micchy? And what skills does this average-height boy have that makes him unique amongst all the players?

_Shinichi Kawasaki_ – Your typical inspired-person kind of character, he has nothing but reverence for the Shohoku players especially after the giant-slashing feat by Shohoku which rocked the entire nation. He joins Shohoku as a freshman only because of the round-two miracle, but will he prove that with a loud-mouthed addition as him, he will contribute to a rising power? Or will he become the team's ultimate hindrance?

**Teams and the 6 months after the Summer Championships:**

**Shohoku:**

With Sakuragi's back injury taking three months to heal, the Shohoku team had difficulty trying to play without a powerful forward as him, even with the all-Japan professional Rukawa on hand to help. A shock decision by Anzai sensei to pull out of the Winter Championships sent the local teams into a whirl of surprise, as Ryonan and Kainan had actually placed a slight focus on playing in the event of "meeting up with that crazy red-haired monkey".

Anzai announces his retirement plan within the next two years, which sent yet another shockwave in the team. However, the "old man" as they liked to call him, has assured that a younger, livelier replacement will help him starting from spring. Who can possibly match the old man's wise guidance on and off court?

**Ryonan:**

Sendo was injured in late-July due to a biking accident that put him out of match-fit condition for 3 months, a month after Sakuragi picked up his "slam-table" back injury. With both Uozumi and Sendo out, Fukuda assumed the captain's role but unfortunately, his style of one-man-show play has put off a lot of his Ryonan teammates, despite numerous qualifying-round match wins. Fukuda was immediately and obviously isolated by the Ryonan players after Sendo's return in time for the Winter Championships, but a public discussion held by the coach shortly afterwards has left the Ryonan players assured that Fukuda will play team basketball more, and hence he did not sink into depression, fortunately, like he once did.

Ryonan lost out to Shoyo for the qualifying from the prefecture stage, and hence, did not take part in the Winter Championships.

**Kainan:**

Maki's graduation from college meant that the team is now short of a backbone, which they hope can be found amongst the freshmen or amongst the transfer students. For the Winter Championships they decided to play "quick-draw" basketball (speed and power) which had them racked up unbelievable scores of more than 200 against minnow teams. However, the relative inexperience has costed them a championship – once again, first foiled by a Meihou during Summer, then by Aiwa. Kainan's pride is at major stake here, can they reclaim in during the next Summer Championships?

**Shoyo:**

Faced with an uphill task of replacing themselves, Shoyo has decided to give more exposure for freshmen and Sophomore as Kenji Fujima has decided that, given the state of the team then, by January they'll be officially "undone" by themselves since all the starters in the Summer Championships are seniors.

To their surprise, Shoyo accidentally found a raw but talented team amongst the sophomores and freshmen, among them Koshiro Aoi, a freshman with a calm shooting stance and leadership sense on the court, and Sumitomi Seiichi, a sophomore with a Dennis-Rodman-like attitude, and an even louder presence under the basket. Passing the baton on to Aoi, Fujima takes a permanent role on the bench – as a coach – and defeats a rather loose-disciplined Ryonan in the qualifying stages to qualify for the Winter Championships. However, like Kainan, Shoyo's relatively inexperienced players found themselves out of gas halfway through the Winter Championships and subsequently, they were defeated under the hands of a more experienced ensemble from Aiwa High School, during the Round of 16. Since then the Shoyo school authorities had been laying out a lot of human and financial resources for recruitment of basketball players to Shoyo, but how the 4 new players of Shohoku slipped past their recruitment drive is a baffling question.

**Disclaimer:**

**This work is only a fan fiction (or fanfic for short), that is, fiction based on part or all of another written or illustrated fiction, written by fans of the said fiction. There is absolutely NO relation between the author of the original series (Inoue Takehiko) and the author of this fanfic (Pasonia Seltia Keros), NOR is there any relation between the fanfic's storyline development and any ACTUAL storyline development henceafter made by the original author (although in SD's case, the storyline is left stagnant for more than 5 years.)**

Ok, I'm posting this introductory page first for a quick peek into my take at the subsequent events after Book 31 of Slam Dunk. However, since it's been quite long already, I am bringing the background of the story to a contemporary setting, which in this case, would mean that the story's second year will start in 2004, so take note. (Seems like a huge jump, yeah, but I'm also about to bring a few elements like the NBA into the story, so it is inevitable that I have to do this rather odd adjustment to the storyline background. ESPECIALLY when you have a humongous object like Yao Ming going to the NBA.)

I will incorporate contemporary elements but I try to keep that at its minimum. I mean, I don't want my story to be ruined by whole pages of net chatting. (o)


	2. Right before school starts

_Edit: Sorry, the strikethroughs seperating the content went crazy. I am reloading this chapter again so gomen . "_

_To my reviewers: Wow! Thanks. It's so surprising to have supporters already so quickly, especially since this is my first serious fanfic. I'll try to upload as much as I could, daily if I could help it. But please do correct me whenever you spot errors. It's a way to help this fic grow! Thanks!_ )

**Chapter 1: Right before school starts...**

"_TJ 107... TJ 107... Shohoku 99... Shohoku 99..."_

"_Sakuragi, pass the ball to me!"_

"_Damned it Ryota, I'm going to get this shot in, NOW!"_

"_No...!"_

"GO INN ALREADYYYYYYYYYYYYY! ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!"

Sakuragi bolted out of his bed, breathing still very, very heavy. He checked his digital clock. 05:55 AM. "Darned, now I lose 35 minutes of sleep. I can't possibly sleep back..." He growls in a very annoyed tone and stood up. "But at least I've got 25 minutes of practice downstairs first before I go to school..."

Memories of the fateful friendly match in Singapore had a profound effect on his mental state. Sakuragi had hoped to be a match hero and gave it his best shot, his best shot yet at trying to impress Akagi Haruko, the girl of his dreams. Unfortunately, her love-shaped eyes were, still, only for Rukawa Kaede, his rival-in-love who doesn't even know that he was Sakuragi's rival.

"Darned it... had I not try to impress Haruko so much as to lose my head..."

It was true. Ryota probably had the best chance of scoring since his momentum was about to bring him under the basket for a nice lay-up shot then, but Sakuragi, of all things, tried a three pointer. Sakuragi still remembers the annoying sneer on Rukawa's face as they returned to defence after Sakuragi's glorious but wasteful air-ball.

"_Do-aho... idiot..."_

"Is Rukawa right about me all this while? He warned me before about being distracted, but I never knew it was that disastrous..."

"YOU HAVE ONE NEW MESSAGE." Screamed Sakuragi's NTT DoCoMo mobile as he picked it up simultaneously. He almost dropped it, his right hand grabbing the phone gingerly one centimetre from the floor.

"Argh, forgot to turn down the mobile's volume again. Who could possibly message me now?"

"From: Haruko-Love

Can you come to school in 15 minute's time? Ayako says the coach wants to have a few words with everyone and it's urgent."

"15 minutes? Now why would it be a problem? The question is, why meet now?" Sakuragi wondered aloud as he pondered on the recent twist of events that happened.

_Three months ago..._

It was a sweaty day for everyone. Anzai had instructed everyone to actually run 20 rounds around the school compound, to train up their stamina. Everyone did, and by the end of it everyone was already very, very tired from putting their feet through the long-distance run. Only Sakuragi, Rukawa and Ryota maintained constant for the run. Although it was quite obvious that they were fatigued, it was just that all three of Shohoku's main stars were too tight-lipped and too proud to actually mention that they are tired.

After the run, Anzai sensei asked Ryota to gather everyone around him in a circular formation. He did – an unfortunate guy getting clipped in the ear for being sluggish – and they all sat down, to listen to Anzai sensei's instructions.

"...Sorry, Shohoku High School, but... I have already requested the Japanese High-School Sports Association to have ourselves withdrawn from the Winter Championships. I am sorry that I didn't inform everyone earlier."

"But why, oyaji (father)!" Gagged Sakuragi, utterly surprised at the withdrawal decision. He had prepared for the last three months so hard, even Rukawa was surprised when he saw Sakuragi making repeated shots at the basket for four whole hours. To tell him that there will be no matches to play with be an utter blow to his morale.

"Because... the school is sponsoring you guys to go to an all-Japanese high schools' tour to Southeast Asia, facing off against some of the best high schools in the Southeast Asian region. Kanaeru High School and Tokeru High School will be the two other participating schools in this tour, and you'll have a chance to play. I was informed of this tour at the last minute and... honestly, it wasn't my decision."

"Stupid ol' dean... he nearly got me into trouble showing me red in the face... now I'm going to...!"

"Wait, baka! Do you want to ruin your own chance to represent Shohoku!" Ryota managed to halt Sakuragi in time, whose rage was slowly dissipating.

"Damned it," he growled, punching yet another indent into the steel door. Never mind that the school had already spent a few tens of thousands of yen trying, just trying, to replace the 3 other steel doors that had been damaged one too many times.

"One more thing before we call off today's debrief. By the time Rukawa and Sakuragi graduates, I'll also be leaving. Two years and a few more months to go."

There was a sharp intake of breath as more gasps popped out from among the players. Anzai sensei, leaving? It will be a major disaster for the Shohoku team!

"My doctor has advised me to rest because my heart condition, to tell you the truth, is not quite well. But I convinced him to let me go on for a few more months, then I'll start passing the baton down to a fresher face who might be even better than me."

"A new coach, you mean? But who can possibly match your skills in guiding people?"

"You'll see, Sakuragi, you'll see..."

_Shortly afterwards..._

The old bento-selling old man was downstairs, as usual. Since the Summer Championships, the silver-haired otoko has been there every morning, selling his home-made tamago (egg) bento complete with a few generous slices of sashimi. For 400 yen, it's a steal. Heaven wonders why he hadn't become some celebrity yet.

"Old man, I'll have one of those tamago bentos again."

"You again, you red-haired monster! How many bentos have you taken from me without..."

A 5000-yen note popped up.

"I didn't had the time to say sorry then. I was cash-strapped! Gee, you sure sound fiery even with your hair being white and all."

"Ok fine, I'll let you off. Here you go." The old man said, grudgingly handing Sakuragi the tamago bento.

The egg yolk smelt so... special. It wasn't like anything the red-haired punk had tasted before elsewhere. Guess it's some skilful handiwork by this silver-haired fiery-tempered man. "I wouldn't be surprised if he's a chef somewhere else," muttered Sakuragi.

"Yes I am, young man. Only that I quit 'coz Tokyo wasn't a place for an old man whom those... hee... hee... what you call those 1000-yen coffee-drinkers again?"

"Hippies."

"Ah yes, they think an old man like me, with no walkie-talkie or whatever you call them, have no more to do with their so-called Neo-Tokyo. It's so sickening to be discriminated against, you know. So I quit my job. I'll rather be smelling the sea air anytime, punk!"

Sakuragi sighed. It was true. Before he had the mobile, those Tokyo people gave him this sneering look whenever he walked on the streets of Akihabara. "Those kids certainly need a mental assessment," he would growl.

Then the mobile phone went mental on Sakuragi again.

"YOU HAVE ONE..."

"Shut up already!" Scowled Sakuragi for the second time in 5 minutes. "Sheesh! Now who the..."

"From: (voice-message-worded)

Oi, did someone message you about something? Mobile's in repair shop after last week's drain accident so I can't message you. Rukawa here."

"Rukawa? Fine, I'll call his home then. His falling into drains so often doesn't help much."

_Meanwhile..._

It was 06:00AM. Rukawa had already awakened and was munching on some apples – his usual fruit for a breakfast – when he received a timely call. "About time that do-aho called," he muttered.

"Moshi-moshi? Dare?"

"Rukawa? The better-than-you tensai here. Haruko says there's an urgent meeting in school now. Ten minutes. Ride full speed now or die."

"Damned," cursed Rukawa. What the heck required such an early assembly? "But hey, thanks."

"No problem man. Just don't thank me too much or I would have thought you were..."

Click.

"Yaoi? NOT A CHANCE, baka."

Rukawa quickly grabbed his house keys and dashed out of the semi-D house, full speed into main street. A nagging suspicion tells him something special is about to happen. Whether or not it was bad, doesn't matter. But it has got to be something real urgent.

_Somewhere in a vehicle, nearing Shohoku High School..._

"Ne-chan... Is Shohoku anywhere in sight yet?"

"Not yet, dammit. You're so anxious about your first day in school already. Don't forget that Father had not forgiven you yet for screwing up your promotional exams this badly. Neither have I given you a ticking-off for forcing me to accompany you to Shohoku."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. But basketball is my life just as much as it's yours! Don't you want to join the girls' basketball team or something?"

"I do, you hyperactive little squirrel, but not like I'll overreact like you!"

"Fine, fine, Yukigawa Mai, I will keep my trap shut if you want. But about Kanaga-sama..."

"Why, you little...!"

The soon-to-be Shohoku freshman gave a teasing look on his face, as if telling his sister "Haha, gotcha!"

"YUKIGAWA ARASHI!"

"Ah, ah, butler-sire, I'm getting strangled, help"

"I'll kill you if you mention Kanaga again! RARRRRRRR!"

The butler-cum-chaffeur smiled, hearing his proteges "killing" each other from behind.

"Old master... a good decision for them to come here, ain't it? At least we're away from the snobbish environment in Tokyo..."

"Oh, look at the clock, sis. It's 6:05 AM only. Aren't we a bit early?"

"Better get used to the surroundings first... wait! WAIT! Where are you..."

"Wheeeeeee! An indoors basketball court! Seeyoulateraurevoirsayonarabye"

"Argh... that little imp...! Still... I think I'll go there first too... after all, I need to revive my dormant skills. Time to show that Hanami Kaito that I can be a difference."

_Jumping quickly to a semi-D..._

"Gosu-chan?"

"Yeah, mum?"

"Stay away from bad company, ok? I don't want you to end up like your wretched father."

"No problem, mum. Actually, we could still stay in Nagoya... but why...?"

"Your dad will... pay us an unexpected visit... and I didn't want anything to happen again so..."

"Yeah, I got what you mean. Still... won't you forgive him?"

"No way. Not after he's done this to me."

The still-raw scar of something that resembles a deep slash wound revelled in all its ugly glory, on the lady's right arm.

"I guess it's no use arguing then... see ya, mum! I'll be back by 7!"

"OK, take care..."

A deep voice appeared somewhere near where this 2.1 metre tall young man was walking past.

"Take care, son.. I'm so sorry things turned out this way..."

_In the side streets a few turns away from Shohoku..._

"Oi, Uchi-urchin. Where you headed for, you sissy wimp?"

The hedgehog-haired youngster was suddenly confronted by three ugly figures. He knew who they were. The infamous Kami-X (for Kami-Korosu, which also means God-kill) and his two sidekicks, Kuroichi and Shiroichi.

"What do you want, X? I'm freaking sick of fighting all day already! I need to get myself a decent job instead of..."

"Looming around the streets, threatening to rape young little girls if they don't hand over their purses?"

"You know how you earned your keep, I know how I want to live my life. So beat it. X, you probably know that there IS someone in Kanagawa who could possibly expose you and throw you into a cell nicely locked up. Or kick your butt into the Sea of Japan."

"We'll still be looking forward to your return. After all..."

"After all, it was ME who helped you ran the whole gang. Face it, sooner or later you'll be arrested." growled hedgehog-boy.

"If I am arrested, so will you."

"So be it! I am freaking sick of your loud words, man. Beat it! I never want to see you in my life again! If I do, we'll perish together!"

"Fine, punk, you'll watch it. You'll regret the day you messed with Kami-Kurosu."

"And you'll regret it more when I teach you a few manners." Hedgehog-boy returned the threat coolly.

"Come on, Kuroichi, Shiroichi, we'll leave him be. For now."

The sidekicks, bare apparitions of themselves after having a dose of "Ecstasy" a few hours back, followed X like do slaves to their masters.

Aoiyama Uchiro sighed as the three retreated into the shadows once again.

"Man, where's you, my sister? I need you so badly now! Get me out of this rut now!"

He checked his coordinates and his watch.

6:00 AM and just 50 yards from his new school, his new life.

_Now directly in the school compound..._

"Whee! Shohoku, here I come! Woohoo!"

The very-early-birds of Shohoku turned around, expecting to see Sakuragi. After all, only Sakuragi is capable of such antics. But it wasn't.

"Oh, it's some freshman kid," muttered one of the seniors.

"What the heck is so exciting about coming to such a drab college?" Another senior whispered unbelievingly.

"The sights, the sounds, the love of basketball! This is the start of the story featuring me, myself and I!"

"OK, that kid seriously needs a shrink," muttered Senior A.

_Now we move into the basketball courts we call an "arena"..._

Ayako, as usual, the early assistant helping to set up everything around the basketball courts. With a surprise guest this morning – Anzai sensei.

"Sensei, why'd you suddenly decide to go for a holiday now?"

"I figure we'll have some new, interesting characters from all over Japan. So I just want to gather all our players here and see who shall be inquisitive enough to come in here. Oh, that sound... Sakuragi's shoes."

The thumping grew louder and louder and quicker-paced as _something_ moves down the corridor at high-speed.

"Whew, didn't quite wanna miss a moment of this amazing lights in our new school," Arashi grinned, as he looked up into the multi-bulb lighting hanging above the Shohoku basketball arena. "Now, who's this red-haired behind me?"

"I am your future captain, and a tensai bigger than you are! My name, in case your ignorant little brain doesn't know, is Sakuragi..."

"Umm, sorry, but I know only of Rukawa Kaede as a talent, and I don't seem to remember that the TENSAI had red hair. Or am I mistaken?" Arashi gives that "Haha, I'm foolin' around and trying to mess with you" kind of expression.

"Damned it, I'm way better than that fool is! You'll see what happens when you mess with the tensai Hanamichi!"

"You are on, red-haired monkey! It's a duel to the death!"

_At the same time..._

"Oh, freak, there goes my street-star bro going hyper over basketball again." Grumbled Mai as she saw his bro all revved up for a duel with the house "tensai".

"Haha, expected. The do-aho is at it again." Rukawa mouths.

"Baka!" Both Mai and Rukawa said at the same time.

Mai, being the first to realise this, began to have her face flushed in mere seconds. Rukawa noticed that cute reaction and almost immediately giggles to himself.

"What's so funny, you jerk?" Cried the innocent flushy-face.

"No, no, it's just that... I never actually noticed that a girl can go all red just by saying the same words with another guy on-cue. What's your name?"

"Mai. Yukigawa Mai. That flowy-haired brownster is my bro, Arashi."

"OK. It seems like your bro is just as hot-headed as our Power Forward. We could use an addition like him, but let's just see how good he is. Now, there, a surprise move!"

"Wha...?"

Before Mai can finish uttering the word, a loud smash resonated across the arena. The sound lingered on and the dust settles...

"Ack..."

_TO BE CONTINUED..._


	3. Setbacks

_To caffeine-san and Burato-kun: Domo arigato! It's so heartening to have constant reviews even though my writing skills are obviously under-par... I'll improve and sharpen my writing as we go on!_

_To Burato-kun: Umm, actually, I've done a slight modification to Rukawa's character. It's OOC if related to I.T.'s SD but somewhere along the road, I am going to reveal the reason why Rukawa had this change. For some reason he will only reveal that "giggling" part of himself as and when he likes it – which is once in a blue moon. He kind of has a reason why he does things the way he did, which I'll be explaining in the later chapters. As for Mai and Rukawa... well, if MaiRu occurs then, HINT, what about "Kanaga-sama"? Heheh... All shall be revealed so be patient..._

_Side note: Sigh... I lost my original Chapter 2 document thanks to a com crash... so I'm rewriting it all over again... sorry for the slight delay..._

**Chapter 2: Setbacks**

A tiny figure was seen sprawled on the floor, motionless. Above him, the red headed was still hanging onto the rim limply.

"Uh-oh..." Gasped Mai, hiding her wide-open mouth from view with her palms.

"What's wrong with him, Mai?" Quizzed Rukawa, though he knew the answer very well. After all, Arashi's reaction is quite similar to a certain red-headed do-aho...

"_Masaka... naze? Naze? NAZE?"_

"...My brother had been floored by numerous rough players in Tokyo, whether or not the rough actions were deliberate. And every time he gives these players an "explosion"... Be prepared, Rukawa, your ears will hurt."

"Huh?"

Too late, as everyone's ears were assaulted by a battle howl that seemed almost beastly. A roar like a mighty lion. It miffed everyone else but Sakuragi and Rukawa.

"YOU! YOOOOOOOOOOOOU! YOU FLOORED ME! THE NEXT THREE POINTS IS MINE! IT'S GAME OVER, BAKEERO!"

Hanamichi was not one bit impressed. In his gangster's past life he had met up with louder – and lousier - squids than this. However, the fighting spirit in Arashi is noticeably present. Sakuragi didn't say much, but instead, concentrated on the game. Now, he didn't want to lose like he did to Rukawa 8 months ago...

_Flashback..._

"_Train a few more years... maybe you'll be better by then. But, I'll be in the US already, and I doubt you'll be able to follow me to the States..._"

_Just a mere second later..._

Arashi took a few steps back and let his ball loose from way beyond the three-point line. Sakuragi was about to prepare for the rebound when he literally heard a whooshing sound coming up from behind.

By the time he heard the whoosh it was too late. Arashi took off from somewhere just after the free-throw line and had his hands outstretched for the ball, which was rebounding off the right side of the rim.

"Way too fast! Watch out, Sakuragi!" Warned Ayako.

The ball ended up in Sakuragi's grasp, but Arashi was not about to have a "no" for an answer. Using his own momentum, the 1.8m brown-haired literally dragged Sakuragi along with the aid of inertia, and forced a dunk even with Sakuragi's fierce and firm grip on the ball. The board shook with so much force that it was close to dropping down on the two battlers.

They were, by now, sprawled in a tangle on the floor half a second after the dunk had went through. A crashing down to earth, so to speak.

"Nani!" Yelped the spectators, unable to believe that Arashi had actually managed to floor Sakuragi. There was only one other guy who could have floored Sakuragi like Arashi did, and that was Rukawa, but even Rukawa found it a more-than-mammoth task to accomplish. This kid made it seem like something he did everyday!

"Nice one," mused Hanamichi as he picked himself up from the floor, extending his hands to a still-ballistic Arashi. Arashi promptly slapped it away and glared at Hanamichi as if he was his greatest enemy. Obviously pissed.

"Arashi... still showing no sportsmanship..." Sighed Mai as she looked on to the drama that unfolded.

"You're a good one, Arashi," admitted Rukawa as he witnessed the chaos, "but you'll need to know that passion is the enemy of efficiency..."

"My ball now," announced Sakuragi as he began in a shooting stance. Fearing for a shot, Arashi immediately raised his arms to defend, to which Sakuragi responded by slipping right under his outstreched arms, ball deftly dribbled past the quickster.

"Fake! What the..."

Sakuragi had already laid the shot up by the time Arashi regained his composure and senses.

"_Fake...! Sakuragi, your basketball techniques have improved tremendously," _thought Ayako. _"It is much more refined then when you used it against Toyotama!"_ She turned around to look at Anzai sensei, who was chuckling away with his trademark "ho, ho, ho".

"Sensei..."

"Sakuragi is a natural, a natural." Grinned Anzai, as he took off his glasses and wiped it clean with his shirt's cloth. All to take a clearer look at the gem he had uncovered by accident just a year ago...

_Back onto the courts again..._

"2-1 down... one more point and I am done for..." Arashi gritted his teeth, of an uncontrolled nervousness. The last time he felt like that was against a 2 metre tall player in Tokyo, who would already be a sophomore already by now. Arashi pulled through that game after a mighty-huge struggle, and he was determined that nothing of the sort will happen again.

Arashi ran the ball swiftly into the paint, to which Sakuragi responds by preparing for the attack in a defense pose that would make even Sawakita Eiji of Sannoh get frightened of. However, Arashi was very confident in his ball-play.

"Loopholes aplenty. Wide-open gap. Perfect."

Rushing headlong into the defence, Sakuragi was forced to back up as Arashi tried to nudge his way through the red-head's defence. During that one moment when Arashi spotted a chance in the form of an exposed back, he grabbed the chance. By the ball.

He swung his body right behind Sakuragi and went cruising under the basket. He then swerved around and laid the ball upwards and behind him, where the basket is.

"Now I've got you," Arashi grinned, expecting to see the ball go down the basket with a thump and a whoosh.

Instead, he heard the sound of meat crashing forcefully against the ball, which made Arashi's heart sank. The ball had been rejected, out of that more-in-a-million chances that it would have been a basket.

"_What the... The ball's deflected? How can it..."_

"You're too careless and reckless," announced Sakuragi as he picked up the loose ball. "That manuever is nothing new to me and I know the way to make your devil-may-care style of basketball fail."

Arashi bit his lip in frustration. It was true, even his sister said that his reckless style is way over the head at times, and that it was because his game is a street game, that's why reckless actions were approved.

"_Sis, I should have kind of listened to you when you said street basketball is so much more different..."_

"_It's ok, Arashi, just give it your best shot..."_

"_I'll not give up, sis, watch me!"_

Sakuragi eyed Arashi carefully as the check went through. Then he began to run the ball in as well, only with lesser speed. Suddenly he took a leap way before the free-throw line, arms outstretched as if laying up for a shot.

"Impossible! This is a... Lay-up!"

Arashi leaped in utter shock but it was way too late. The ball was already cruising over Arashi's head when he jumped up for a pathetic show of defence, while narrowly avoiding a third crash with Sakuragi.

Rukawa instantly recognised that move; The move he had used against Gori number two from Sannoh... The "long-distance lay-up"... or the "soft sissy ball" as Sakuragi had dubbed it.

The sound of whoosh had made its final judgement on the game.

_Afterwards..._

Arashi howled in utter defeat, dropping to his knees as it went marshmallow. He kept pounding on the floor, tears flowing as freely as a river might, as an obvious struggle to his defeat begins on the first day in a new school...

"My brother's first... first ever defeat..." Sweated Mai, unable to believe that, at long last, there is one person who can finally tame his wild monkey of a brother. The shocked reaction was followed by a sigh of relief.

"Congrats, Arashi, you've finally experienced the first of many setbacks that would make you much more stronger... It all starts from January the 3rd, 2004... six twenty-four..."

_At the same time..._

"Cool. Didn't expect Shohoku to have such good players. I did watch a few of their qualifying round matches last year but I didn't know Shohoku was this good."

Uchiro was at a hidden part of the arena, trying to hide from the crowd in order to conceal the fact that he was having a few puffs while watching the red-headed sophomore defeat his slightly shorter but strong-willed opponent.

How Uchiro's alert senses didn't alert him from the fact that this _particular_ old man with a pudgy body, standing besides a curled-hair senior, had noticed his presence was unclear, but afterwards Uchiro was shuffling uncomfortably. He didn't like to be noticed, and neither did he want the others to know _that_ secret, though he suspects the old man knew him from somewhere else. Strangely, this old man looked familiar too.

Pushing the chaos away from his mind, he flung his cancer stick out of a nearby window and started walking towards the canteen, along the long, monotonous corridor...

As he walked on with his hands shuffling in his pockets, memories of the old days began flowing through his thoughts, but dismissing those memories as nothing more than a one-off illusion in his life, he continued walking on – and somehow crashed into a shorty in front of him.

"Argh! Watch it!" Gagged the shorty as he picked himself up from the floor. Taking a closer look at the careless dude, the shorty instantly recognised the tall figure in front of him.

"Uchiro! Aoiyama Uchiro! I thought you were in Takezono High School! What brings you... hey, something's not right. Where's your sis?"

"Missing. Just 3 months ago. I suspected that it had something to do with Kami-X, but he swore that he was innocent, and whenever he swears about something it is almost always untrue. Yet I don't know how to prove X otherwise. Heck, she could be enjoying life somewhere in the United States, forgetting about my existence."

"Kami-X? You mean that purse-robbing rape-threatening downright sickening bastard?"

"Yes, that weakling, Ryota. Too bad I don't know how to stop him from causing further harm, he's always smarter than me in the art of cloaking oneself from human sight."

"Well, that can be dealt with over tea on any other day. Now, about basketball..."

"No. Please, you know I lost all my interest in basketball following _that _incident. So why bother convincing me again?"

Ryota sighed. _That_ incident was a very huge blow on Uchiro's confidence, and that was where the once great player fell. Why did the story sound so familiar? It's because such things always happen, thought Ryota.

"Hey, Ryota, I'll catch you later. I got some administrative duties to sort out with my I/C."

"Ok, I'll see you around. My mobile's still the same number, call me if you need my help."

"Sure." Uchiro walked off, happy to know that at least there is someone here in Shohoku he can turn to if he needs help and that is Ryota. Always dependable.

_Back at the courts..._

Ayako noticed Rukawa chatting away with another girl, drawing huge stares from his fans who were trying to take a better look at the girl who stole _their_ boy's heart. He was behavingly oddly for a guy famed for being a reserved individual.

"Hey, who's that girl Rukawa is chatting with?" Asked Haruko as she started to warm up for her own morning training session, decked out in red-and-white basketball gear.

"Beats me," shrugged Ayako as she starts setting up the basketball courts for the morning practices. "But if my guess weren't wrong, she could be related to the guy whom Sakuragi just beat. Now, it's time to announce something to those boys."

"Oh..." Haruko felt quite uncomfortable all of a sudden, unsure if it was just a case of love lost from unrequited romance.

"Players, please gather here for the morning announcement!" Shouted Ayako as the players – including a still-sobbing Arashi – gathered at the sidelines for a briefing that was unduly delayed by the duel between the two hot-heads.

"Ho, ho, ho," began Anzai as he starts inspecting his players. "All of you have grown up in terms of both your physical, and mental state. Sakuragi... he possesses the same agility and power, and he has certainly grown up mentally in terms of playing this beautiful game."

"Nyahahahahahaha! But of course, oyaji! I am the tensai, you know! Nyahahahahaha...!"

"Do-aho," sneered Rukawa. "You kind of forgot how you made that air-ball, didn't you?"

"I was about to talk about YOU, Rukawa! Your personality has gone through a... rather... substantial change, hasn't it!"

"...I think you'd do better practising more," replied Rukawa, obviously avoiding the question. Who the hell was Sakuragi to interefere, he thought.

Sakuragi was about to protest about Rukawa's statement when Anzai sensei started clearing his throat.

"Rukawa has improved upon his game, finally choosing a multi-pronged approach and trusting his team-mates. Ryota... speedier and firmer dribbles, getting on the opponents' behind quicker than he did during the Championship matches... Yasuda, now not so reliant upon the rest of the team and opening up his game well against tough opposition. Kuwata and Kakuta... a great pairing now with improved teamwork and aggressive defences. On the whole, Shohoku will have a chance to enter the Inter-High for the second year running."

The Shohoku second years were grinning from ear to ear. It was something welcome for them, to tell the Shohoku people that they are now regulars for the Inter-High.

"In addition, we have a few new players, I suppose. Ah, young man, what's your name?"

"Yu...Yukigawa Arashi..." choked Arashi as he tried to clear the sobbing.

"Arashi, you remind me of someone from a long long time ago. You certainly have the makes for great basketball. I hope this loss can help you learn a thing or two. Remember, that even the most powerful of players fails from time to time."

"O...ok..."

"The morning announcement is intended for a few things. First, I will be handing over coaching duties for the next two weeks, to Ayako. I will be heading for the HQ of the Japanese High-School Sports Association for a nine-day forum. Second thing, is that this year, we might have three Kanagawa teams going to the Inter-High instead of two. That does not mean that the competition has shrunken, so working smart and hard is the key."

_Just then..._

There was a commotion outside the corridor as _something_ really huge grabbed everyone's attention. When that _something_ finally arrived at the basketball court, he was already having a really flushed-red face, made even more obvious by his extremely tall stature, and his tanned skin.

"May I know who you are, young man?" Enquired Ayako, secretly hoping that this will be a powerful replacement after Takenori's absence.

"He... hello everyone... my name is Goston Yamir, freshman, 2.1 metres, from Yokoro Junior High. I played center position as a starter."

"Yokoro Junior High? Isn't that in Nagoya?" Pondered Sakuragi. Why would someone of his stature opt for Shohoku when Kainan and Shoyo were better choices? Everyone else, however, have a different take on the new player...

"The star center of Yokoro! Goston Yamir the "Giant of Yokoro"! Didn't Yokoro win both the Junior High Summer and Winter Championships last year?"

"That... that was through my teammates' efforts..."

Suddenly, the future of Shohoku looked as bright as the sun itself.

"Ho, ho, ho."

_To be continued..._


	4. Reasons, lessons, problems

_To Incumbus-san (former caffeine-san) and Burato-kun: Thanks so so so much! Your reviews are what keeps me going!_

_I was hoping to focus on Uchiro, actually... I'll see how things go along...!_

_This chapter will hopefully be the last chapter in which I bring in new Team Shohoku characters. But NOT the end of characters from other schools, of course._

_Last note before I begin: Please visit my DeviantArt from time to time (I am pasonia). This will be where I post all my artworks (including pictures of the new characters, not old! My skills of the pen is still not enough to recreate Sakuragi, not to mention Rukawa. So... yea... -o-")_

_By the way: Goston and Yao Ming are different. Shyness (perceived or otherwise) is the similar bit but there is a really marked difference, you'll know why later. :P_

_EDIT: I've updated the chapter after discovering numerous descriptive and uploading errors. If you'd read through the story the first time round... try re-reading again. Gomen . "_

**Chapter 3: Reasons, lessons, problems.**

"With Akagi's replacement on our list... I guess we have no problem playing man-to-man once we need to, but we should kind of stick with the zone formation we've been using for the past 6 months... That'll allow that Goston to adapt to our play... Apparently he doesn't know that the -"

"SAKURAGI!"

Sakuragi bolted upright from his chair as his teacher in-charge blasted at him once again, using a loudspeaker this time. The teacher is now the wiser as he knows how to avoid any sudden moves from Sakuragi's "hate-disturbance" slumber (that is, some flailing arm that would catch him across the face like some sledgehammer). Problem is, Sakuragi wasn't even sleeping. He was really just randomly drawing out circles on his notes, trying to figure out the possible combinations for the team.

"Sakuragi, now you're going from bad to worse! First year you've been sleeping in my class all day, that I thought you would have sorted it through with over the break and reflect on your actions! But now...! You're drawing in my class! What the heck is this supposed to mean?"

The rest of Sakuragi's classmates looked around themselves, some yawning in boredom. It was just like any other day when the sensei is in class – ask for homework, scream at Sakuragi, class dismissed. And probably with the sensei getting a black-eye from it.

It was about to happen...

"What is the -"

When _something_ miraculously halted him from his outburst.

"_Wait, you idiot! Do you seriously want to be banned from competitions?"_

Grudgingly, Sakuragi held back his words. "S... sorry then... I didn't quite mean it... I won't do it again, ok?" With a mental note: _Not in FRONT of him of course._

Both the sensei and Sakuragi's classmates were quite taken aback. Has the red-headed gone through some canal operation during the break? Whatever it is, though, it sure is a welcome change from the usual black-eye he gets from the monkey. For the students, it meant no show to watch. Another reason to add to disdain for the dull sensei's lectures.

"...OK, Sakuragi, you're let off this time. If you do it again, off to the detention office you go."

The bell rang, inducing sighs of relief for the class.

"Class stand...!"

As the sensei left the classroom, Sakuragi was about to dash for the cafeteria when he saw a name prominently marked out in red on the sensei's working file. _Yukigawa Arashi._

"Arashi? Wow, running into trouble so fast already?"

_At the principal's office..._

Arashi shuffled about uncomfortably. Even though the principal's office was his favourite hideout, new places always make him rather touchy. Besides, the presence of two more guys, who looked more like gangsters than students, had made the touchiness even worse.

"Aoiyama Uchiro! I thought we talked through this in the morning, so why are you here already within 3 hours?"

"Can't help it, sire. Someone mentioned my most hated thing in my presence and I had the urge to wallop him."

"And what would that be?"

"Basketball."

"_He hates basketball? Why would he hate basketball to such an extent?"_ Gasped a surprised Arashi. He had never heard of anyone executing bodily damage on basketball fans for what they were – it was definitely no crime to be in love with basketball – but...

An itch of mischief suddenly sprang up and, feeling the touchiness no more, Arashi suddenly blurted, in an almost sing-song like tone...

"I am absolutely in love with basketball."

As Arashi would have expected, Uchiro turned around and glared hard at him. What was most unexpected is the raging fury in Uchiro's eyes that threatened to eat Arashi up. Slightly miffed but possessed by his trademark devil-may-care attitude now, Arashi casted an expression of "Haha, I gotcha", setting Uchiro's emotions on a really huge blaze.

Uchiro decided to teach the mischievious and irritating imp in front of him a lesson, and what better way to do that then a choke slam? He had his fingertips stiffened, and lunged for Arashi's throat in a quick thrust. The hapless Arashi was pinned to the floor, slamming into several wooden stools at the same time, as Uchiro had his fingers around the imp's throat expertly.

"Do you know that basketball betrayed the heart that loved it? Do you know how many hours I used to spend at the basketball courts perfecting my three pointers! Do you know that all those training went to naught just because I was in a freaking coma for 3 weeks? Do you know that all my teammates called me a bastard just because my absence made them lose? Do you KNOW the pain in me? DO YOU KNOW AT ALL?"

With each sentence that he had ended, his grasp on Arashi's throat tightened. Arashi was already beginning to suffocate and was flailing his limbs wildly, but in vain.

"Stop it young man! Or I'll be forced to call the police!" The principal stood up, voice clearly commandeering like a boss to his subordinate. However, it was clearly ineffective against disturbed individuals.

"Shut up, old m-"

Before Uchiro can finished his sentence though, the third student who was watching the spectacle gave Uchiro a very hard, very practiced karate chop on the neck. Uchiro was immediately blacked out as he fell to the floor. Arashi thanked the lucky stars that he was still alive, though he was coughing so badly, he could have easily been mistaken for a heavy smoker.

"Thanks... (cough)! You saved (cough) me!"

"Do-aho. I wouldn't have helped you if he wasn't about to kill you. Maybe because you're also a basketball fan."

"Wh...what's your name? (wheeze)"

"Shinichi Kawasaki, freshman, Small Guard at Harufusho Junior High. Eliminated during the semi-finals. Yours?"

"(cough)Yukigawa Arashi, freshman from Yasuhara Private School, no previous national competition experience but a street player with a 76-1 record in one-on-ones." _76-1, but what use is it when it is an imperfect record, _thought Arashi. _I don't think I'll ever mention this record again._

"Nice. Why'd you come to Shohoku since your family's rich enough to afford private schooling?"

"I dunno, it's my dad's decision after seeing my... less-than-desirable... results..." Arashi's words trailed off slowly, as if he was creating special effects.

"And how exactly undesirable is that?" Quizzed Shinichi, suspecting something was rather amiss with Arashi's saying that particular sentence.

"Well... 3 Bs, 1 A, and 2 A-Star?" Replied Arashi nonchalantly, as if it was just a small thing out of his everyday life.

"**WHAT**? That you call **undesirable**? I **barely** made it to Shohoku with 3 Cs and 3 Bs!" Shinichi went completely mental. _Ten hours of mugging__ for 3 whole months, 3Cs and 3Bs!_

Arashi shrugged. "I don't know, maybe my dad's perception of _undesirable_ is a bit higher... the only person he was ever satisfied with is my elder sister Mai. Record straight A-stars."

Shinichi was quite miffed. This mischievious monkey can probably outdo him in any subject, although apparently personalities are a different matter altogether.

"Hey, umm," blurted Arashi as he switched the topic, "since you're going for basketballing, why don't you come over to the courts today? I heard there will be an official freshmen's induction later on."

"Well, I didn't come to Shohoku for nothing you know... That was old news. I want to be part of a great team..."

"Is Shohoku that good in basketball?"

"Well, their giant-slaying feat says a lot..."

"Huh?" Arashi was clueless. He really didn't do much to catch up to the national basketball scene, so he was really badly left out of the know.

"What? You mean to say you didn't know about the toppling of the Sannoh Technical High basketball team, widely regarded as one of the best in the nation?"

"No... I didn't... say, do you have a video of the match? I might be interested..."

"Well, you can really count on your lucky stars today," grinned Shinichi. "I now happen to have a Blu-ray disc that I used to record that match..."

Shinichi shuffled in his bag for the disc, and after quite a while he discovered the disc's casing tucked under one of his files. "Here."

"Thanks lots." Grinned Arashi. _Finally, _he thought, _I'll discover the reason why Shohoku has such a powerful presence...!_

Then suddenly they heard a throat-clearing warning tone. They had forgotten about the principal's existence altogether...!

"Well young men... on account of this sudden incident, I shall let the both of you off today... Shinichi, write a report on your latecoming to school. I want it in by tomorrow's morning assembly. 500 words minimum."

"Yes sire..." Shinichi sounded very okay with it. _Perhaps it was a discipline instilled since young_, thought Arashi. _Wished I had that._

"And you, Mr Yukigawa Arashi. You'll serve an hour-long detention this weekend for community service. You know what that means, don't you?"

Arashi grimaced. That definitely meant washing toilets. Usually they'd be filled with a cigarette smell because of errant students wanting to take a puff and then discarding them in a rather disorganised fashion. In simple terms, the butts are usually found away from the bins, due to a myriad of reasons. Not to mention the extremely dirty urinals full of weird smells ranging from the extremely light ones to the extreme "heavy" ones. _Yuck._

"O... ok sire..." Arashi knew that resistance was always futile. Not against the head of a school anyway.

"Failure to comply will mean a double punishment on a weekday. If I feel like it, I can slot it right into your training time. So be warned." The principal's sudden dark, steely tone meant that he's for real.

"Ok..." Gulped a slightly shaken Arashi.

"All right, Shinichi can leave first. Arashi, drag this guy Uchiro into the first-aid room. That karate chop doesn't seem all too light and it may take quite a while for this young man to come to."

Arashi stole a quick glance at Uchiro. _Your hatred for basketball stemmed from this? But surely this isn't enough reason for you to drop the sport altogether... Naze?_

With that, Arashi began carrying his unconscious assailant to the first-aid room. It was only a short distance away, but with Uchiro's overtly huge frame, every step seemed like an eternity. _Damned._

_Turning our attention to the spotlight of the day..._

Goston was shuffling about his seat nervously. At least 3 other girls were staring at him from where he was sitting, more than 6 tables away. He had never considered himself very special as a person or a player, so this tsunami of attention is literally washing him off his feet. He quickly finished up his bowl of ramen and quickly left the cafeteria, with the girls still staring at him with love-shaped eyes. Unbeknownst to him, he will be rivaling Rukawa as the next most charismatic player of Shohoku. Girls love cute, shy boys, no matter their height.

(OOC: Which is why boybands were always popular during its first 2 to 3 years, and then trail off into no-man's land. (ahem-ahem!))

He sneaked his way past the corridor, where more girls hung out, chatting about the latest tank-top or the thickest rouge any girl will ever apply on their own faces. Having done so successfully (much to Goston's mighty relief), Goston then headed towards a rather remote part of the building that he had heard people talk of: The Abyss.

The Abyss is a place where no ordinary students dare thread because there were rumors that a pair of lovers hung themselves there during midnight when repeated attempts to elope had failed. It was a sort of urban myth that only a handful of teachers know the truth of, including his teacher in-charge, who happened to be Sakuragi's sensei too. Goston snorted when he heard of that.

_Rumors are rumors, _he thought,_ and even if it's for real and I see ghosts now, I won't be scared. I have never done any wrong and so nothing should daunt me._

So naturally, Goston just stepped right into the Abyss and got his phone connected to the Net. For thirty minutes, he immersed himself in the Net scouring for more basketball-related news and discussions, enjoying the anonymity that the Net offered.

Then, suddenly, something went _slam _above, and Goston, while surprised that _someone else_ could have been at the Abyss, quickly decided for a quick exit in case anything happens to him. So without delay he slipped out of the Abyss quickly.

Goston was both smart and lucky. Something did indeed happen, and it was nothing good at all.

_Shortly after Goston's hasty exit..._

"Korosu, you promised. I want his sister right after I've done this job for you. It's kind of high-time I repay him for what he has done to my dad."

"Anything, Yokoro. Or should I say, Shibo-no-Tenshi?"

"Hey, you know what contractual assasins do best, don't you?"

"I do. I paid well, haven't I? You've got a nice downtown residence to yourself... not to mention a 1000-CC Yamaha bike, from all the earnings off my jobs for you."

"Well... I haven't missed yet. Just watch me. By the end of this week you should see his face in the obituaries. If anyone missed him at all, that is."

"I'm counting on you, Yokoro. Don't fail me."

"Don't worry, Mr Paychecks. I'll still be around to get your pay."

Then Shibo-no-Tenshi disappeared quickly. Vengeance in mind, payment on hand. Two birds in one stone. What else could he had asked for?

_Over at the first-aid room, 3 hours after the knockout..._

"Ughh..." Groaned Uchiro, the neck chop still giving him a rather painful sensation whenever he tried to turn the neck. "...huh?"

When he had shaken off the groggy-head, he found Anzai-sensei sitting just beside him.

"Aoiyama Uchiro," announced the old double-chinned. "The junior of Mitsui Hisashi."

"An...Anzai-sensei... you know me." Uchiro immediately recognised the old man he had seen earlier this morning, now up close and definitely personal.

"Well of course I do. You were part of the team that won the Junior High crown 5 years ago, after all."

"But what do those Takezono bastards treated me as? Alley-scum! Right after my coma..."

"Uchiro, you know that is not the _real_ reason."

Anzai stared right into Uchiro's eyes, searching for that spark that would awaken Uchiro from his own hynosis.

Sure enough, Uchiro already began to feel something rather _odd_ developing in his mind. Memories of the _reason_ finally began to surface, after long years of being forcefully suppressed... The memory-dam had finally gone under.

_To be continued..._


	5. Untitled anger

_Gomenasai! Haven't managed to edit this baby in a long long time because I'd suddenly experienced this writer's block. I can't seem to think of a way to break out of it. Hope you won't mind me..._

**Chapter 4: Untitled anger**

"_Ani-chan..."_

"_Ne?"_

"_Where are we?"_

"_I don't know. I suppose Mum and Dad must have lost us after we escaped from the burning house."_

"_What do we do now? I don't want to be left alone, ani-chan!"_

"_Sa, sa, it's ok, imoto... Don't worry ok? Even if we may never find Mum and Dad again, holler for me and you'll see me getting to you as soon as possible."_

"_I don't want 'as soon as possible'! Promise me you'll always be by my side...!"_

"_Ok... sure... I, Uchiro Aoiyama, promise Sakurayume Aoiyama that I'll never leave her alone by herself!"_

"_Let's cross our little fingers to seal this, ok?"_

"_Sure..."_

"_Naze? Why did such things had to happen?"_

"_Sakurayume, I'm home..."_

There was no response. The house was eerily quiet, unlike when Sakurayume was sewing those torn clothes that the both of them kept wearing because they were dirt poor.

"_Sakurayume?"_

Still no response.

"_Where'd she go to? Besides school and home, she travels to nowhere else._"

Then his minds travelled back to the time when Kami-X spoke of her sister...

_A few months before..._

"_Oi, Uchi, who's that gal in your house? A slave of yours?"_

They were talking in a pub, somewhere that Uchiro can access only because he's a gangster.

"_Mind your language..."_

"_Well, what is she to you then? A toy?"_

"_Enough!"_

Uchiro stood up, and gave Korosu a roundhouse kick across the face. The impact sent the hapless and shameless gangster crashing into a few tables nearby, scaring the wits out of other pub goers as they hurriedly made for the exit.

"_Never speak of my sister in this manner!"_

"_Wow... what a gutsy subordinate, huh? You know, I'd wish I had such a sister to bed everyday. You, young man, you really don't know how to appreciate the things nearby you, huh?"_

"_If that is what you call appreciate, pity the girls who were with you in the past."_

"_Ehehehehehe... well, those girls sent themselves crashing into my lap... Not my fault, right?"_

"_Wrong. You exhorted them, tortured them, ruined them."_

"_So be it may. Do you think I give a (expletive)_?"

"_Whatever it is, Kami, if I see you laying your hands on my sister, you're going to get it from me."_

"_Oh, sure sure, I won't touch her. After all, we still do have a 'code of honor', don't we?"_

"Uchiro, have you thought of approaching the police?"

Uchiro found himself snapped back to reality. Anzai was still with him, and this time he didn't feel so scared as he did a while ago.

"Approaching the police? Hah! I myself had a hand in greasing their palms. Would they be convinced if I said my sister was kidnapped by my partner, the notorious gangster of Kanagawa?"

"..." The wizened old man suddenly found nothing to say.

"Thanks, though, Anzai-sensei. You actually inspired my senior, Mitsui Hisashi, during that year which Takeishi won the championships, right?"

"Well, I wouldn't say so, young man. He played it straight from his stash of abilities. I regretted not noticing his absence from the Shohoku team when he dropped out for 2 years due to his ankle injury, and now... I don't wish to see you going down the same route he did."

"But Anzai, what about my sister...? I can't rest one night, sensei, if I don't find her."

"All is up to fate, Uchiro. If you'd put your faith in me, you will be able to rest. Now, do you want to put your faith in me, trusting that I will help you as much as I can?"

"Sensei..."

_Meanwhile..._

"Ah, school's finally over!" Yawned Youhei, the leader of the Sakuragi guntai. "Oi, Sakuragi, are you going to the arcade today? I heard they added a new machine today, and I'm eager to..."

"No thanks, Youhei, I'm going to basketball training."

"Sakuragi, you've changed... you used to like skipping such trivial things as school, but now you're completely absorbed in it. Even today in class, when normally you would have given that teacher a roundhouse punch, you actually said sorry to him. If I didn't know you, I thought you'd gone through some sort of brain transplant..."

"Well, all for the better, huh? At least now I can confront people without resorting to fists."

"OK... hey, can't talk anymore, the rest of the guntai is waiting. I guess I'll tell them the wimpyness that got over you."

"Youhei!" Growled Sakuragi, almost back in his gangsterly manner.

"OK OK, just kidding."

As the guntai left him alone, the redhead was thinking, "Have I really changed that much? A year ago today I was cussing, swearing at Gori, now I wish for him to actually come back..."

_But inside the court, more surprises await..._

"Nani kore... it's 3pm already and that fool of a brother is still not here... What the heck is he up to...!"

Mai was pacing up and down the empty basketball court, its emptiness amplified by the echoes of her own footsteps, which became louder and louder as she grew more and more impatient. Eventually it became stomping altogether, until... the appearance of a small, innocent basketball lying right under a basket.

"The ball... anata did tell me that the basketball itself is like the world... when you release it from your hands, it feels as if you've liberated earth itself. That feeling, no matter where you bring the ball to, is..." She suddenly paused, a red-hot feeling rushing up her face with such speed that she didn't know how to react initially.

"...as nice as love has ever been." Continued another voice.

Mai turned around, knowing that particular voice so well she may never forget it for her whole life.

"Kanaga-kun!"

Kanaga only weakly smiled back, and opened up his hands to embrace her as she crashed into his whole being, unwittingly sending something wooden clanking on the just-as-wooden floor. When she looked carefully at the whole of Kanaga's being, she was stunned. Then, she just started weeping.

"Sa, sa, anata, don't cry... I'm still here, aren't I?"

"But your legs!"

Just then, Arashi made a sudden appearance, shocking the heck out of Mai.

"Sis, I thought I might wanna tell you about THAT but it seems now I don't have the need, do I?"

"Why, what's with you! Why didn't you tell me earlier about this?"

"Would you have believed me if I'd told you your lover... he..." Arashi stopped suddenly, as though saying the truth hurt himself just as much.

"Damned it, why him out of so many other idiots out there!"

_A whoosh!_

Arashi turned around fast enough to pick the pass, a familiar sound entailing its executor.

"Kanaga, you...!"

"I haven't lost my hands, that's for sure!" Shouted Kanaga, his sound now much fiercer than the few times Arashi had heard him screaming. "Now, don't just stand there and complain. Just shoot at those effing baskets until it breaks! Don't look back!"

"Ka... Kanaga.. you..." Stammered Arashi, as he looked back at the physically challenged man he once hailed as a "hero".

"Don't look back, damned it! DAMNED it!" Growled an impatient Kanaga.

Mai's love struggled with the stretches as he inched towards a nearby basket of balls that Sakuragi had just laid out for training. With the red head looking on in complete surprise, he hurled ball after ball at Arashi.

"What the hell...!" Sakuragi practically stoned and gaped as he watch Arashi avoiding the "cannon-balls". "Those passes... but how... he's not even using his waist's power to generate the motion!"

"I lost my most precious commodities in a freak accident, and you! You have your limbs intact still, baka! So get down to work before I start killing someone! NOW! NOW!"

With one final throw, he hurled the ball towards a nearby door, which so happened to be opened by an innocent Miyagi.

There is absolutely no need to guess what happened in that split second. Pure pain.


	6. The storm before THE Storm

_A bit far-fetched that chapter was, no doubt. However, this is how I'd have liked to continue it. Moving on, hmm, that does look like… uhh… more new guys around the house. An explosive battle is about to erupt!_

**Chapter 5: The storm before THE Storm**

_2 days later, during afternoon training…_

"Ne, Sakuragi-kun…" Whispered Arashi, as though he was afraid others would hear him talk.

"Mmm?" Sakuragi growled in response, fatigue sweeping over him like never before.

"Any idea where Uchiro came from? I'm still kinda suspicious about this shady kid, seeing as he has tried to strangle me once."

"Uchiro?" Sakuragi turned around to look at the tall, lean youngster. "He reminds me of one of my seniors, only slightly on the thin side."

"Is that so? He doesn't seem like a simple character to me…"

"Listen, Arashi," Sakuragi turned around with a low grunt, "people make mistakes. It's how you learn from it that is the key point to everything. Some people learn faster; others, slower. Well, it took Mitsui only 1 week to comprehend but for me, I took a lot longer than that. Trust me, Uchiro is just an average, nice kid, with a suspiciously violent past. I've been through that road and it never was a smooth channel to travel in."

"Omaewa BAKA…" twack! pow! "…ni desu!" (Idiots!)

Two "meat-buns" were formed from Ayako's attention-grabbing fan-slap. No one else uses a fan with such ferocity.

"Ane-chan, what was that for?" Sakuragi was smarting from the fan-slap.

"Training, you two fools!"

"Ok, ok… what a nag…"

"WHAT DID YOU…!"

"Run for it, Arashi!"

"What?"

kapow!

"Ow..."

_Meanwhile…_

Kanaga watched intently from the sidelines, overseeing Ayako execute her coaching duties. It had been simple: "Guide Ayako and choose what you would want to do with the players." At least, that was what Anzai-sensei told him to do.

He noticed a huge shadow making his presence felt with his lay ups and defense plays.

"Goston Yamir… Yokoro Junior High, 210, and breaking an all-time school record with more than one thousand officially registered baskets made. What is missing from this kid, then…?"

An arm embraced his neck from behind. He knew who it was.

"Anata, here's some unagi bento for you." Mai smiled as she sat down beside her, making sure that she was of appropriate etiquette.

"Mai, what do you think of that tall guy over there?" Kanaga mouthed, in between bites of fish.

"Mmm?" She took a closer look at Goston. Strong biceps, strong movements, oozing confidence are all in. Something was clearly missing though…

"The tall guy is okay, but he is not utilizing his full potential. He seems to be afraid that he would injure someone, hence his moves are inherently on sub-par aggressiveness."

"Ah, that explains the low rebound capture rate despite his height. Ayako, come here for a while please!"

Ayako heard her name being called by Anzai-sensei's promised "fresh blood" and hustled to where Kanaga was.

"Yes, Kanaga-san?"

"I suggest you let both Goston and Sakuragi have a rebounding contest, while continuing training for the rest."

"Kanaga-san, I'm not sure… Theory-proving is a slightly daunting task here, and we're running short of time into the training. Do you want them to do this after the training, instead?"

"Be it may. I want to see how I can improve upon their skills."

A huge shadow appeared nearby the main shutter, capturing the attention of all the Shohoku basketball club players. Goston turned around and revolted with particular surprise.

"Ken….Kenichi…!" Stammered Goston as he stood completely rooted to the floor. This is much to the surprise of the other players, except – as usual – Rukawa.

The shadows disappeared, and in their place were green-clad players, white stripes a trademark of the Shoyo basketball team.

Immediately Ayako found something strange about the new Shoyo outfit, although it was common knowledge that the old team is no more.

"There is no particular center, and their players are a tad below the previous batch of Shoyo seniors' height, though relatively they still dwarf most Shohoku players. What kind of tactics can they formulate with such a… normal team?"

"Ken-san." Kanaga greeted with an unusual tone. "It's been a few months, ne?"

For some reason, this Kenichi avoided Kanaga's greeting and proceeded to talk to Ayako.

"Miss Ayako, you're the… manageress of the club, right?"

"Y…yea, Kanaga there is the…"

"Who is Kanaga?" Kenichi queried, throwing eavesdroppers into further confusion. They _thought_ Kanaga and Kenichi knew each other!

"Kanaga Misano, the acting coach of Shohoku High School… that will be me. You are Kenichi Murasame, new coach to a brand-new Shoyo outfit. An ex-'All-Japan'."

"Yes, that will be… reiterating whatever is in my curriculum vitae." Kenichi eyed Kanaga with a blank expression, as if to express his nonchalance.

"OK, let's not waste further time," interrupted Ayako, sensing something terribly wrong with the two men but not sure enough to ascertain the causes of the tension. "What is your business in coming here, Kenichi-san? Do you wish to arrange for a pre-tournament friendly?"

"That is part of my objective, however that would be secondary. My primary objective here is to reclaim a player who is currently in your training, and whom we have scouted for earlier…"

"Kenichi-sempai, I will not be going to Shoyo! Shohoku is my own choice…"

"Unfortunately, we do not accept your decision. Your father as to the best of my knowledge, signed a contract with us to send you into our facilities…"

"Hold it, Kenichi-baka!" The "tensai" interrupted Kenichi's speech in mid-way, effectively breaking up the argument. "What contract were you talking about?"

"Shoyo has been signing players all over the country, Mr. Sakuragi Hanamichi. We do not wish to repeat a failure of what we have suffered during last year's Inter-High preliminaries, and we need to ensure that none of these players abscond anyhow during the three years. Unfortunately, it seems, absconding has occurred, and much earlier than expected…"

"Stop it! The man signing the contract was my father, not me. He is not me and therefore…" Goston raised his voice and tried to defend himself.

"I am afraid there is no say for you in the matter. I do not wish to make it ugly, but under current laws, parents make the decisions for their children up till the age of 18 years. You are sixteen now, and hence you still fall under your father's jurisdiction." Kenichi made his argument sound like something cast in stone, albeit in a rather repulsive manner.

Now things were getting ugly. Never before in Japanese senior high history had a student been poached from another school in such a dramatic fashion, and it did seem that Shohoku was about to fall foul to what must surely be one of the ugliest player-tussles in history. In the darkness, a light beam shone through it all.

"Kenichi Murasame! Enough is enough!"

Kanaga struggled to walk towards where the nearly 2-meters tall handsome was standing.

"You have caused the loss of my limbs, the loss of my All-Japan future, and now, this?"

"Misano-kun, I… I have no idea what on earth you are spluttering."

"Oh, is that so? Is that really so, if I produce a notice of arrest now that the police sent out for you on the 21st of November, 24 hours after my limbs were found irreparably damaged because of your reckless driving?"

"What the… this is completely unrelated to the issue at hand…!" Arashi started, not sure where to put his hands in this crazy tussle.

"I am innocent…!" Kenichi protested adamantly.

"…until you are proven guilty. In my eyes, you're already condemned. I will make only one concession; that I will drop the charges I have against you. Only under conditions that you do not pursue the matter regarding Goston's alleged 'contract'."

"Kanaga, don't -!" Mai gagged, wide-eyed at the decision.

"Mai, I don't wish to see another person walking down my path." Mai could sense that Kanaga was genuine in that sentence, as he had ever been.

Kenichi was absolutely stunned. He had never expected to be blackmailed on such terms. Anyhow, it was a good way to get the irritating charges off his shoulders. Surely the loss of a player wouldn't mean much. He'll explain to the Board of Directors himself. After all, he's a million-dollar signing.

"Now, about this friendly match… Ayako, what are our usual regulations for a friendly?" Kanaga approached Ayako on the next step to take.

"As per official guidelines, timing and refereeing will be done by our reserve players. 10 minutes of pre-match warm-up and changing is given."

"You heard that, Shoyo," barked Kenichi. "Now move it!"

The players moved out in military fashion, hustling to change up and warm up before the friendly.

While the Shoyo players were in the changing room, Goston approached Kanaga with relative uneasiness, not sure how he will repay his gratitude to his coach and sempai.

"Kanaga-sempai…"

"Goston, I have no time to explain this," replied Kanaga hurriedly as he scrawled line after line in the basketball marker. "Just concentrate on this word and it'll be the ultimate key to today's game… 'Aggressiveness'."

"Aggressiveness…? How do I use that against Shoyo's players…?"

_To be continued…_

_PS: The basketball marker is not a person; it's a mini whiteboard that has a basketball-court backing. It's often used to plan out strategies in real-time. I said this like no-one knew what it was, but, JUST in case..._


	7. Somebody gonna get a hurt real bad

_Did Shoyo become "evil" or something? Not telling p_

_However, something did change. What did? Read on… for this is chapter 6…_

**Chapter 6: Somebody gonna get a hurt real bad…**

Yasuda grabbed a whistle from Ayako and walked onto the courts, slightly miffed and stiffened. Even though he has had at least the benchwarmers' experience, he still couldn't help it because Shoyo's new players were still giants as ever compared to his 169cm stature. In his minds, he had thought that only someone like Miyagi could have literally dribbled through their defense, but unfortunately he's out because of Kanaga's freak ball-throw, which costed him a broken nose.

So that leaves the point guard position to Rukawa, who had not played PG for quite a while already. Not since All-Japan broke camp 3 months ago, in any case.

_Starting V is as such:_

_Point Guard – Rukawa Kaede (11)_

_Small Guard – Shinichi Kawasaki (13)_

_Center – Goston Yamir (4)_

_Small Forward – Yukigawa Arashi (5)_

_Power Forward – Sakuragi Hanamichi (10)_

"Today's match is an official friendly between Shohoku High School and Shoyo High School. Results of today's match will be entered into the Sports Association's information bank, however it will not play any part of…"

"The boring bits again," sighed Mai. That is the problem with official matters in Japan – long, and boring yet unimportant bits always fly around the place like flies around poo. Then, her mobile phone rang.

"Message from (unknown)

Information regarding Shoyo's players will be sent via fax. Please proceed to your general office to collect data. –A Ryonan informant.

PS: BEAT THE CRAP OUT OF SHOYO!"

Mai handed the phone over to Kanaga, and both sweat-dropped for no reason whatsoever.

"Play ball."

The ball sailed in the air, with Sakuragi in position to flick the ball backwards. However, what came about instead is an instantaneous ball-spike which caused the ball to fly inches off Sakuragi's head.

"Shoot," he cursed, landing with the feeling of being dealt a sucker blow.

The next thing he knew, Arashi had suddenly taken possession off a lanky Shoyo player's palms, and was setting himself up for a swift counter-attack.

"Watch out, he's coming from the right!"

With graceful athletics, he zipped past two unsuspecting Shoyo guards, forcing them to turn around quickly to return to defense from half-court.

"Arashi, pass!"

Shinichi was already on one side of the flank, ready to receive a pass at prime position to score the first basket. But Arashi had a different idea, stopping his run within dangerous territory, at 45 degrees right off the 3-point arc. At this point of time, one of the guards found Arashi right in front of him and had no time to avoid the static-positioned Arashi, which was…

"Just as I had thought it out to be!"

The ball flew into the air at a really sharp angle and Arashi was brought down to the floor a millisecond later, drawing the game's first foul as Yasuda blew the whistle.

The ball hit the rim hard, but bounced into the path of the backboard and then the net.

"Basket count, one throw!"

Arashi grinned, his oft-used street tactic working like a charm again. Who said that basketball is a divided sport, anyway?

"Aki, it's ok!" One of the Shoyo players shouted as the players positioned themselves for the free-throw. "It's just the start!"

The guard nodded, with no signs of wavering confidence.

Arashi took the throw with confidence, and Shohoku was up for an early 4-0 lead. Almost immediately the whistle was blown again.

"Player change!"

Arashi found number 5 raised up and in his place was a much weaker Yasuda, who was just as surprised at being called onto the court into a different role.

"Arashi, get onto the bench."

"Kanaga, what the heck was…"

"Just watch Yasuda play, and you'll know what I need now. That was absolutely street and, while it is an element of surprise, I don't want you to keep 'surprising' your opponents so soon. They'll nab you in place too soon and you'll be doing nothing since you are still in a persistent solo-playing stage. Remember that you are not Rukawa."

"Ok, sure, whatever my sister's lover says…"

"Hey, young man… in private you call me Kanaga or whatever you choose, but you're under my charge now. That will be Misano-sensei to you."

"O, yea, whatever…"

_Meanwhile…_

"Mai-chan," greeted the attendant at the general office. "This is the data you want, ne?"

"I think that'll be the information I'll need all right. Thank you…"

Mai strolled down the corridor as she looked through the pile of data she had gotten.

"'Tips and warnings on Beating the crap out of Shoyo', what a weird name to an official document… let's see… Chen Guang, Jang Soo, Denzel Maverack… foreign players, as I had thought… Koshiro Aoi… Aoi… hmm… tactics…"

_To fast-forward a bit, to the 18th minute of the first half…_

"1:59 left…" Sakuragi took a quick glance at the timer. "We're still drawing level here…"

The game had trudged on in a normal rhythm, with both sides scoring consistently and neither side gaining an absolute lead over the other as the lead changed hands multiple times. The only marked difference between the both sides was Shohoku relying on Goston and Sakuragi for defense and attacking in-the-paint, mostly with the help of Yasuda's refined passing, and Shoyo's counter-attack and multi-pronged approach.

42-44 with Shohoku trailing, Sakuragi takes the ball outside the paint and is immediately double-teamed. Goston was posting up fairly decently though he was getting shoved. Sakuragi thought it might be a good idea to pass him the ball, so he did. Little wonder why Shoyo is getting their way now…

Goston received a hard stomping on his toes just as he was about to turn around and shoot. He yelped in pain, dropping the ball and conceding possession.

"Foul!" Shouted Goston, but Kakuta, oblivious to the incident, waved "play on".

"Darn it…!"

So far Goston had only gotten around to doing simple shots under the basket instead of slamming it in, simply because he didn't want to injure anyone. But he felt that something was burning in his toes and cried out in pain as the pain became excruciating.

Kakuta paused the game and a team of medics hurriedly rush to Goston, who sat down with his legs outstretched under their basket.

_At the same point of time…_

"_Beware, for Shoyo's new players are not shy to dirty tricks this year. They have allegedly injured many key players of other schools during their friendlies through either shoving or punching, though the referees had in separate cases, been unable to determine who actually injured the players. Kainan is in serious trouble with Kiyota, Jin injured. – Ryonan informant"_

"Mai, how is Goston's injury?"

"Looking very bad there, Kanaga... His toenails are cracked and he has difficulty walking, and there is suspicion of internal bleeding."

"We can't outrightly accuse them…" Kanaga mumbled, but for some reason, Arashi did just that as he confronted the two alleged offenders.

"Why did you do that, the pair of you! Aren't you ashamed of using such cheap tactics!" Arashi bellowed at the pair, furious that one player went down in such an ugly fashion.

It was useless ranting though, for the pair only understands fragments of Japanese. One replied in Chinese while the other, in English, to which Arashi had no idea of.

"Forget it, Arashi," grunted Yasuda, just as pissed but resignedly. "I can't make out whatever the Chinese national said, but the other English or American guy denied all wrongdoing. Besides, we can't nab him because Kakuta didn't manage to see the incident. However, since the injury is obviously deliberate…"

"Technical foul, one free throw for Shohoku!"

Just then, Kenichi stood up, a grin drawing across his face inexplicably, and said, "Hey, referee, aren't you biased. My players are accused of fouling deliberately, yet you did not set a technical on the little hoodlum."

Kakuta was confused. The rulebook did say that any alleged but unproven accusations made by a player towards another player or players, can be considered a technical foul. However, Kakuta wasn't sure what to do at all, because the foul looked too deliberate to be an accusation…

"Murasame-kun, there can only be one technical foul running against one team at a time, and because Kakuta has awarded the throw to Shohoku first…"

Immediately the Shoyo coached frowned and sat down in absolute disgust while Kakuta heaved a huge sigh of relief. Lucky for him, Mai knows her rulebook well enough.

"Phew, lucky I mentioned that." Mai sweated furiously, as though she'd gone through three rounds of sauna. "He did the same accusation-returning twice against the two other teams Ryonan and Kainan."

"But, Mai," Ayako turned around in full seriousness, "If they did those against two teams, won't that mean…"

"Shoyo has changed from a squeaky-clean outfit to one with a lot of dirty linen…"

"That's kinda true…" Murmured Ayako.

"Hey, uhh, ladies…" Kanaga broke into the conversation suddenly, and without warning. "Now we need someone to take care of Goston while he rests in the changing room…"

"May I help in any way?" A voice popped behind them out of nowhere.

"Haruko-chan!" Squealed Ayako. "You're here!"

"Sumimasen… I was late because of lessons…"

"Daijobu desu, ne-chan," grinned the cheerful manageress. "Now, can you please help us by taking care of the injured player in the changing room? Help him change the ice packs whenever needed…"

"Who is injured? Saku.."

"Nope, not Hanamichi. It's the much taller guy."

"Goston-san?" Her face dropped suddenly, sounding terribly disappointed. "OK, I'll be on it…"

"Gee," Ayako rubbed her snout, covering her gleeful expression. "Has things finally turned around for the baka?"

However, Sakuragi had more important things occupying his head, as Goston limped off into the changing room. He wondered if there were anybody else in the team who could have replaced Goston's presence within the team, since only himself and Rukawa has a height above 190.

"Let me be the center."

The team turned around to find Uchiro changing into his battle gear.

"Uchiro, you're barely 180! How do you…"

"Do you trust me?"

The team hesitated. Uchiro being a loner, he didn't talk to them much and it didn't leave any impression that he would be able to contribute to the team.

"I trust you, that's for sure." Sakuragi announced, as if no one could hear him.

"That will be good enough. One is all I need."

"Oi, same here." Rukawa grunted. "Don't say I am not trying to help you, although I really can't do much if the team doesn't wanna."

"That's cool. OK, so where do we start returning their… little favors?"

_TO BE CONTINUED…_


	8. Interest, 100 percent returned

_OK, so Goston has gone down, and Shohoku is in trouble without a center. How will a motley outfit consisting of a redhead, a punk, a quiet dude, a powerful player and a Mohawk dude fight against people much taller than them? It's all in…_

**Chapter 7: Interest, 100 returned**

**(_PS: If you can read Chinese, good for you. It's all good clean fun.)_**

"Teeheehee," snorted Murasame, glad that he's poised to take down yet another victory.

"Chen and Maverack are doing their 'jobs' well enough. I just lifted their hopes so they think they can go to the States, but well, I don't think the colleges will want violent players. Still, we're all perfectly en-route to the Inter-High. Then, we get our title of National High School Champion. Employing them in play has never been easier with these buffoons… Now, what can they do with a Mohawk punk?"

_Meanwhile…_

"Shinichi, I have a plan. It's not going to sound really nice, and it might land you a serious foul… Then again, you want to return them the favor?"

"Sure do, Uchiro. What's the plan?"

_And so…_

The second half went underway. Shoyo leads by 45-42. By this time, many high school basketball pundits had arrived on time to witness a game. What most of them did not realize, was that it has become a free-for-all. By the thirty-minute mark, both teams are still drawing level, much to Murasame's surprise. Uchiro assisted the team with his three pointers, to make up for lack of in-the-paint firepower due to Goston's absence. Rukawa is trying hard to cover Sakuragi but Sakuragi is finding himself pinned down badly.

At the 8-minute mark, the score was 73-69.

Shinichi and Uchiro were on defense as Chen and Maverack moved in for a two-on-two. The ball went to Chen, who was preparing to lay-up the shot. Uchiro made a defense maneuver – or so everybody thought.

Then Chen landed without laying up the ball and was crying out in pain as his whole being crashed to the floor. Kakuta stopped the game and the medics promptly rushed over to see what was going on.

"Uchiro?" Sakuragi eyed Uchiro with suspicion.

"What? Hey, he fell down on his own accord and started bellowing like a madman."

"他妈的！臭小子，你出老千！"(Dammit! You sonofagun, cheater!)

Chen Guang was swearing in Chinese as blood flowed from three deep scratches on his arm.

"彼此彼此。你敢说咱们的中锋不是你弄伤的？"(Same to you, buster. Didn't you injure our center as well?)

"Hey, Uchiro, you knew Chinese?"

"Sort of. I spent 6 years in China and spent my other 6 elementary years in a Chinese school here in Japan."

"What was he saying?" Shinichi moved up and queried.

"Ah, well, he was just swearing. OK, so Shinichi, now it's your turn to deal with that Englishman."

"Count on me."

Kakuta was once again, unable to determined who caused the scratch, but it seem like Chen grazed himself on a rough patch of the basketball court that the school hasn't fixed yet, so that could be a likely answer. Murasame wasn't convinced, though.

"Hey, referee, aren't you blind?"

"Kakuta, that's a technical!" Mai shouted from across the court.

The whistle was blown again, but not to signal play on. As Murasame was caught on the arms by in-house security personnel and thrown out of the school compound, Shoyo is caught without a coach on the bench, and soon their formations became pretty useless.

(Henceforth English conversations are noted in italics)

"_Koshiro, you're not doing anything!"_

Shinichi knew English and caught wind of what his English opponent was saying. Koshiro… Aoi?

"The guy with multicolored hair?" Wondered Shinichi. "He's not doing much today, anyway… But it seemed extremely deliberate that this Koshiro was trying hard not to do anything…"

Shinichi flashbacked to the start of the game and started replaying the game in his head. He came to the conclusion that his hunch was correct. Shinichi had been doing through passes, assists, whatnot. The only thing he didn't do was shoot, even when he caught Shinichi and Uchiro off-guard.

"_Denzel, I absolutely refuse to help if you're not prepared to play fair."_

"_Fine, you pea-brain. I'll take down all these red mamas myself."_

"Let's see who gets the last laugh, eigo-nan(English-speaking dude)!"

Denzel got the ball and literally charged at Shinichi. The charge was intended not to do a slam-dunk…

"What the… Shinichi, careful!" Sakuragi bellowed from across the court.

But before the dude could even reach Shinichi to do damage, Shinichi side-stepped and tripped him conveniently. He was sent flying out of bounds and crashing into the scoreboard, knocked out.

Now Shoyo is without their violent players, and without a proper formation, things turn completely into Shohoku's favor. The last five minutes seem very one sided and if not for a certain Koshiro Aoi, who constantly broke through the Shinichi-Uchiro defense, Shohoku could well have scored hundred before the whistle. However, one man is not a team, and Shoyo finally lost out in the end with a score of 95-87.

"Teams, bow! The match ends with Shohoku High School as the victor, 95-87!"

As Shoyo was prepared to leave, Shinichi approached Koshiro by tapping him from the back. The tall, lanky dude whom he stole the ball from during game start, turned back to see who tapped him.

"You are…"

"_I'm Shinichi Kawasaki."_

"_I'm Koshiro Aoi. Now, since you speak English…I guess you overheard whatever Denzel was talking about, huh?"_

"_Rightly so. Tell all your friends that Shohoku High School is an outfit not to be messed about by such shameful tactics. And tell your coach Murasame that if he dares to try anything funny in the Inter-High preliminaries, we won't hesitate to report this matter to the sports association."_

"_You think I like playing shamefully? I'm about to report Murasame to the school's board of directors soon."_

"_Really? I hope that the next time we meet, you will be holding the armband and then, we can play more respectfully."_

"_Sure. Until next time then. _Team, let's go."

"_Hey, before you go…"_

"_Yea, Mr Shinichi?"_

"_Tell Murasame that we paid him back with interest, hundred percent."_

"_I'll be sure to do so. In any case, he's not going to be on this particular job for long. Tata, then."_

Before long, the courts quietened down again as the small crowds and the visiting teams left the courts.

"Gotta go wash my fingernails," grinned Uchiro.

Shinichi looked at his fingernails. They seem to be stained by human skin and blood. So Chen's injury was deliberate after all. Then again, that speaks volumes of Uchiro's dark past.

"Hey, Uchiro."

Uchiro stopped in his tracks with a screech.

"Yea, what? Ya gonna tell me not to use that cheat in Inter-High?"

"Rightfully so. The rest doesn't know what went on, and I hope we won't ever have to resort to this, again."

"Saa… we won't use this again. It's not even a basketball-originated form of injury-causing, so it wasn't fun."

"Uchiro!"

"Just kidding man, don't be so uptight."

"I hope so. Now, let's go see how's… whoa, Goston?"

Across the corridor heading to the rest area, Goston was staggering out.

"So, did we win?" Goston tried to grin, but the pain was still bad. Behind him, Haruko was half-yelling, half-pleading as she asked him to stop moving about.

"You bet. C'mon, let us share with you what's going on. It's a long story about debts owed, and interest paid back at a hundred percent…"

TO BE CONTINUED…


	9. Distance

_Some rather dirty tricks, that one, by Uchiro. Kanaga doesn't realize it, only Shinichi knows the whole truth. Sakuragi and Haruko… who knows?_

**Chapter 8: Distance**

"Ne, Goston-san, are you feeling ok?"

Goston grimaced as Haruko applied pressure to the ice pack. The pain in the toes were unbearable, to say the least. Despite this, he manages to force a strong front for Haruko.

"Y…yea, I'm feeling quite… ok…"

The doors to the locker room burst open, sending Haruko to the floor in utter shock. She lost her balance completely and fell near Goston's thigh, an unintended action that had Goston's face turn beetroot.

"Yay, we beat those buggers all right! We've confirmed that this pre-season we're… Goston… Haruko… what are the…"

It was Ayako-san who crashed her way in. _Looks like she's inherited something from Sakuragi, or Sakuragi possessed her, _thought Haruko.

"Ne, don't… don't get the wrong idea about the door… it was… it was…"

It was then that she saw Sakuragi's shadow behind Ayako, near the doors. It disappeared the instant Haruko stepped towards the doors, but from a distance Haruko could still see Sakuragi's red-head bobbing up and down further down the corridor.

"_Oh dear, what have I done?" _Gasped Ayako, who stood behind completely frozen from surprise_. That must have been Sakuragi getting the wrong ideas…_

"Haruko, I'll take care of Goston, ok?"

"Thank you, ane-chan!" With that, Haruko sped down the corridor at her fastest speed possible, ignoring stares from other male students as she tried to catch up with Sakuragi.

However, it was not to be. Sakuragi had already disappeared from the corridors and vanished from sight, before Haruko had a chance to explain things.

"Sakuragi…"

Rukawa appeared from the other direction where Sakuragi had disappeared off to. Upon seeing Haruko and her distraught face, he guessed that it should be about the red-head.

"_No wonder that buster took his stuff so quickly, and to top it off he didn't even bother to shower."_

Rukawa was about to step up and approach Haruko to inform her of Sakuragi's whereabouts, when he suddenly decided against it.

"_I think I'd better not do anything now, lest she gets the wrong idea. Other girls I don't give a hoot, but this one's particularly fragile. It's not a simple matter…"_

Without Haruko noticing, and still distraught, Rukawa slipped past her and slung his bag onto his shoulders as he made the long walk back home…

_At the same time…_

"Kanaga, today's match was… really… disgusting…" It took Mai a while to gather the right adjective. Rightfully so, since the rest had a hard time trying to judge whether the game was repulsive or ugly.

"It's a shame that we're playing against vulgar opponents this time round. I thought this kind of thing exists only in soccer, particularly the English League, but now we have a team like an Arsenal with 5 Patrick Vieiras. What a headache."

"My English isn't really good, but from what I hear from Shinichi and one of the Shoyo player's conversation, it seems as though that guy Murasame is not particular well-liked either. Also, the other guy acknowledges the two violent players' violence tendencies and condemns it…"

"Really? I'm wondering where the other coach of Shoyo is. Because after graduation he was tipped to be the next Shoyo coach, and that sounded more sound and logical a choice than this sonofagun…"

"Who are you referring to, Kanaga?"

"Kenji Fujima…"

"Oh, Fujima-san…"

_Elsewhere this time…_

Uchiro walked down the quiet street that faces the monorail nearby. Hearing the train whir past him stirred past memories of him and his sister playing under the monorail bridge as children.

"Sakurayume, if only you'll tell me where you are now…"

It was then that he _felt_ that someone was following him. Whoever it is, his acute sensory tells him that it wasn't friendly.

In fact, deadly enough to scare him.

The only things he would be scared of are his past, and some of Kami-X's mercenaries. Particularly, Shibo-no-Tenshi. Speak of the devil.

For the oncoming assassin, what could be more handy for such a mission, than a trusty dagger and a revolver? Of course, he knew that by doing his he had exposed himself completely…

"Yokoro, I guess you're hired by Kami-X again?"

"Professional ethics, so no saying of my employer. In fact, I myself have a few scores to settles with you…"

"Oh no, not again…"

"Shut up, and fight!"

The assassin fished out his revolver, but Uchiro was gone in an instant.

"How many times must I tell you…"

Uchiro was right behind the assassin, and before the assassin could react, Uchiro had him hold his own dagger against himself.

"I tell you, your cousin was not raped by me, damned it. I'm still a bloody virgin, and you can have the entire nation's professionals check my bloody bro if you need a proof!"

"Then how do you explain your own gloves at the scene? And why was she killed?"

"Don't you know how gangs operate, after a long stint in the underground? You know how these leaders act. They lay traps for their own henchmen so they stay put under their own charge! It was the same they did when they had Mike Shinota's sister murdered and framed him for the crime! Don't tell me you don't know Mike Shinota's case!"

The assassin fell silent, not sure how to respond.

"Now, tell your employer that I'm still alive, and I'll go back someday to kick his ass."

Arashi released his lock on Death's Angel's dagger-wielding arm. Just then, the assassin turned back with a revolver on hand and the dagger on the other, and yelled like a madman as he rushed towards Uchiro's being. The whole neighbourhood shook as the sound of death resonated across the street…

_Meanwhile…_

"First Rukawa, now Goston… How come I get all the bad breaks?"

Sakuragi was really disturbed by what he saw at the locker room. It was him who kicked the door open, and that one glimpse of Haruko lying near Goston's thighs said a lot about her feelings towards him.

"And so that's number 52…"

He was about to kick a dustbin on the roadside, when he saw two ugly figures crumpled around each other.

"Man, yaoi pairings these days are getting too bold… Let's see…"

Sakuragi approached the figures and noticed crimson. Crimson never looked good, it always meant injury of some sort. But the amount of blood lying around was so copious it could have taken a life.

As he pried the figures apart, he was taken aback when he saw Uchiro, with a dagger implanted on his right armpit, and a gunshot wound on the other guy's chest. The shot guy was a goner.

"Why… doesn't… anyone believe… me…"

"Hey, Uchiro, wake up man! Shit… I'll have to call for a frigging ambulance."

"Oi, Sakuragi…" Uchiro grasped Sakuragi's palms, by now bloodied from touching the crimson-soaked clothes of the two idiots.

"What happened, dude? The underground again…?"

"I'm played out again by fate…"

Uchiro started to sob, even though it hurt to even breathe. It was just too much for this young man to take.

"Cool down man… save your tears for later…"

Then, Uchiro's grasp slipped and his eyelids shut with Sakuragi in full view.

"Oi… Oi! Don't scare me man! Sheesh! I did tell you to save it for later, not like 99 years later! Wake up already! Jeez, where's my CPR skills when I needed it most…"

Without any second thoughts, Sakuragi began to pump Uchiro's chest with urgency.

"One, two, three, four… One, two, three, four! One, two, three, four!"

"ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR…! DAMNED IT…!"

The ambulance sirens rang from beyond, as if signifying the despair from beyond…

_(For those who saw "Interest, 100 returned", you should know that has a weird habit of not displaying symbols properly. It was the percent sign I was trying to use, but oh well… till next time, I'll catch ya later…)_


End file.
